"I prostrate to the Perfect Buddha, the best of teachers,
who taught that whatever is dependently arisen
is unceasing, unborn, unannihilated, not permanent,
not coming, not going, without distinction,
without identity, and free from conceptual construction."
-- Arya Nagarjuna, "Mulamadhyamakakarika"

Without their immeasurable Compassion, Wisdom,
blessings, direct help, and spiritual guidance,
I would not have been a Gelugpa monk. And from the bottom of my heart
I express most heart-felt gratitude to my Mother - Anna, and to my friends
for their warm-hearted support that has helped me to survive
on this meaningful, beautiful monastic path to Enlightenment
for the benefit of all sentient beings

According to spiritual guidance of my
Ven. Holy Root Guru Kyabje
Zopa
Rinpoche, I have been a resident Sangha memeber
of Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery since Losar
of the Water Sheep year ( March 2003 ).

Arya Shantideva

Ven. Lama Geshe Lobsang Jamyang Khenrinpoche was born near Lithang in Eastern Tibet in 1933. He attended Sera Mey Monastic University in Lhasa. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, he followed His Holiness the Dalai Lama into exile and continued his studies at the same university, then re-established in South India, in Karnataka state. There he received the coveted degree of Geshe Lharampa. He is also an honoured graduate of Gyume Tantric Monastery. In 1996, he was
appointed
by the Dalai Lama to be the Abbot of Sera Mey Monastery.

Shree Gaden Dhargay Ling Monastery, Nepal

Ven. Tulku Lobsang Jamyang Lekshe Gyaltsen Rinpoche

Lama Yeshe:
"Historically, Dharma never went from one culture to another without changing its external form. Internally, of course, the Dharma never changes; the essence of the Buddhadharma remains pure. But you can’t make Germans or Americans eat tsampa; their stomachs aren’t made for it. They don’t need these external things. From Western society’s point of view, people wearing robes are considered bad human beings, an insult to the rest of society.
We should be practical. I am not against your wearing robes. I wear them myself. I’d be sick if I had a negative attitude to what I wear every day. Well, I’m not sick; I’m happy with my robes. But what I’m saying is that when you are in your own country, working with and relating to people in regular society, I think it’s stubborn to insist on wearing robes when people are putting you down and calling you a bad human being. Then they criticize Buddhism: "Buddhism produces bad human beings". That’s what they’re going to say, isn’t it? They’ll say: "Buddhism creates hippies", because they think monks and nuns are not responsible citizens, are socially unacceptable. Then Lord Buddha gets a bad reputation; do you want to give Lord Buddha a bad reputation?
When Buddhism went from India to Tibet, the monks’ robes changed completely; there’s nothing Indian left. The same thing happened when Buddhism went to China and Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Of course, there are some similarities, but basically they are different. Why are they different? You cannot say their Dharma is bad Dharma. You cannot say that Tibetan Dharma is better, that it is better to wear Tibetan robes. That would just be an ego trip. Because climates and cultures vary, people compromise and come up with something that suits their environment.
Let’s agree that we need to consider making some changes in the robes and that slowly, slowly we’ll check out how to do that. When you are here in Dharamsala, you can wear exactly the same robes as Tibetans wear; Tibetan people will be very happy. But you are not Tibetan; don’t think you are Tibetan. You’re going to spend most of your life in the West, in your own country. Therefore, think about it.
For example, the shem-thab. Thai monks don’t wear those as do we Tibetans; they don’t wear zens, either, so what’s the big deal? The most important thing is that the robes you wear should signify, or identify, you as a monk or nun. Ultimately, of course, robes don’t mean anything. We should experiment!"

Ven. Lama Zopa Rinpoche:"This will be the largest Stupa in the Western world. Its main purpose is to make the lives of all beings meaningful. For those beings who will see the Stupa, it will help purify their mind; it will help collect merit, which is the cause of all happiness and all success; it will help heal their body and mind through purification specifically due to the power of the Stupa, by meditating on the
emptiness of Stupa, and by seeing this holy object."

"The safety of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his proper religious training is of particular concern for me. I, therefore, appeal to all governments, religious and human rights organizations for their intervention in ensuring the safety and freedom of the young Panchen Lama."-- His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama of Tibet

1. Collecting the world literature on Buddhism, including original texts
and scholarly works.

2. Creation of an information centre, which will present world's
accomplishments in the area of Buddhist studies. This will be accomplished
through internet website
www.bbpp.eu.org
where we provide information about
publishing activities, research, and collections of other libraries.

3. Developing activities promoting the project, the book collection, and
the philosophy of Buddhism. This goal will be achived through organizing
conferences, lectures, exhibitions and publishing activities.

The official inauguration of the project took place in May 2000. It was
attended by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the XIVth Dalai Lama of Tibet. In
his inauguration speech he said: "I am extremely happy, that this priceless
ancient Wisdom finds its home in this magnificent, modern library in Poland."
During the inauguration His Holiness donated two sutras:
'The Diamond Cutter Sutra'
and 'The Sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses'.
We hope that this gave birth to the largest Buddhist book collection in
Europe. Due to project's dynamic developments we created the Department of
Buddhist Studies. This department will collect and make available to the
public books from the Buddhist collection.

In the context of European integration, initiatives that tend to increase
knowledge of other cultures can be considered a measure of maturity of a
democratic society. Szczecin City and the
Pomeranian Library
have a chance to play an active role in this process.

The book collection is intended to be used by foreign readers also.
Geographical location of Szczecin City makes it easily accessable
for guests from abroad. This unique book collection creates opportunity
for Szczecin City to become a significant European centre
of Buddhist studies and research.